


Prince of Doom

by Chichirinoda



Series: Collared Visions Arc [3]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-03
Updated: 2011-07-03
Packaged: 2017-10-21 00:05:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/218601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chichirinoda/pseuds/Chichirinoda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sollux has a plan to retaliate and balance the playing field, but Eridan isn't about to just cooperate easily.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Prince of Doom

**Author's Note:**

> Um. Did I say three parts to this arc? It's going to be four. I hope you enjoy! This one is non-smutty, so no kink_bingo fill :(

Sollux lay curled on the bed in the corner of Eridan's room, staring at the far wall and thinking hard, trying to ignore the naked troll cinched up against his back and the possessive arm draped over his waist. The sleeping rectangle, as he called it in his own mind, wasn't what he was used to, but it was better than lying on a floor, anyway. And he had to admit there was something to be said for being able to sleep somewhere comfortable without getting covered in slime.

Of course, they weren't supposed to sleep at all, but Eridan had demanded a nap once he finally deigned to rescue Sollux from the pool, and Sollux didn't really care. If he wanted to brave the horrorterrors, or whatever would happen while asleep now that Derse and Prospit had been destroyed, that was his problem.

And he seemed to be okay, so far. He twitched and muttered in his sleep, one arm cinched around Sollux' waist as they spooned, but that was all. Either way, Sollux had no intention of actually falling asleep right now.

Sollux was too busy planning.

He was pretty sure he would only have one shot at this, but he had an idea. With a little luck, things might turn around.

But first he had to get these fucking handcuffs off.

He turned his attention to his hands, jammed up close to the headboard. Two metal circlets went around his wrists, fastened by a short chain that was threaded through the slats of the board. There was a tiny touchpad on the side of each cuff, which had allowed Eridan to program a complex encrypted lock. Sollux supposed a key might have seemed too provincial. Or maybe Eridan was afraid Sollux would simply steal the key and unlock himself while Eridan was asleep.

Too bad he didn't need a stupid key when he had a computer to hack.

Approximately twenty seconds later, he cautiously slipped out from under Eridan's outflung arm and padded barefoot across the room to the doorway into the next room. That had been a pretty tough combination. He was actually impressed it took him that long.

He grabbed the pile of punched captchalogue cards and sorted through them until he found the one he was looking for - the one for the collar he was wearing. Well, the first collar. Eridan seemed pretty insistent on not giving him back his telekinetic powers so long as they were alone in this room together, which Sollux couldn't really blame him for.

In a sense, it was a relief. If he couldn't use his powers, there was no point in trying. So far, every time he tried to attack Eridan with his telekinetic powers, Eridan turned off his psychic blocker and the whole thing was sort of moot when he was practically catatonic from visions, anyway. Easier just not to be able to fight back in that way, so he wouldn't be tempted to try again.

He tried not to think about the implications of that entire thought process, and focused on the pile of captchalogue cards as he continued to sift through them for useful material. He didn't have much time. If Eridan woke up and found him out of bed, he'd be pissed off, and probably find a better way of keeping him confined.

He just had to hope that the sounds of the lathe and alchemiter wouldn't be enough to wake him up in themselves.

He worked quickly, wincing every time the lathe ground against a cylinder. His hands shook a little as he placed the last one on the alchemiter and punched the button. Eridan was still asleep.

Dear gog he hoped Eridan was still asleep and not just pretending.

He picked up the object he'd created and cautiously crept back towards the bed. Eridan was curled on his side where he'd left him, but he'd twisted in his sleep and thrown the blanket off. He was nude - as Sollux still was - and despite the situation and how much Sollux' stomach clenched with hatred, he looked really good like this. His face was attractive, his superior genetics expressed in noble features and a powerful body - at least, by troll standards. His face was crinkled up into a frown in his sleep like he was having a dream he wasn't enjoying, but otherwise he looked almost like the ideal of a troll. It was so annoying.

Sollux held his breath as he reached the bed and bent over Eridan.

Suddenly, the aquatic troll's eyes snapped open and focused on him. Troll reflexes, particularly when woken out of sleep, tended towards rage. Sharp teeth bared in a snarl as a hand jerked upwards, closing around Sollux' neck. "Wwhat are you--"

Sollux was ready for something like that, and didn't let it deter him. He lunged forward and snapped the collar around Eridan's neck, ignoring the way the other troll's hand squeezed his windpipe, then threw himself backwards, breaking the grip and stumbling back a few steps, his chest heaving as he sucked in air.

Eridan scrabbled at the collar, tugging and trying to find the catch, but like the second collar he had made for Sollux, it could only be opened by fingers bearing the right genetic signature. It didn't take long for him to give up and jump up from the bed, advancing on Sollux with fists clenched.

"Take it off!" Eridan snarled.

"No!"

"I said take it the fuck off right the fuck noww!"

"Fuck you," Sollux snarled. The pool was somewhere behind him, and he tried to angle his retreat so he wouldn't wind up falling into it. "Make me!"

With a growl, Eridan grabbed his ring and twisted it.

Sollux heard the voices explode into his mind and felt a pain in his knees as he hit the ground. But even as he writhed, he smiled a little, hearing Eridan's screams match his own in pitch and timbre.

Now it was just a question of which one of them would have the presence of mind to switch the collar back on again. He hadn't actually thought that far ahead.

 _I have to keep control,_ he thought, though it felt like it came from far away, nearly drowned out by the screams. They seemed so close. Almost in his ears. Sollux bit his lip hard enough to bleed, and clutched at the pain as a source of focus, something real, as he crawled across the floor to the other troll, who was whimpering piteously into his hands.

A juggling club rose and fell and green blood spattered as Nepeta sprawled on the floor, twitching feebly.

 _It's like he said. I've been dealing with this my whole life._

A lance was grabbed from the hand of the knight who held it, driven through his chest. Tavros fell with a gasp, clutching at the shaft as brownish blood poured down in a flood.

 _I just have to keep it together for a few seconds._

The crack of a bow snapping and the twang of a string, and the drumming of shoes on the floor as Equius struggled for air with a smile on his face.

 _I just._

 _Have to._

 _Hang on._

He felt a hand under his own, though he was blinded now, by tears and the visions that just kept coming.

Nepeta snarled in his ears.

Tavros yelled a battle cry.

Equius grunted with pain as he went to one knee.

Horns honked as Feferi fell heavily into their midst.

He found the jewel and twisted it.

The relief was instantaneous, but it took Sollux a few gasping, sobbing breaths to be able to convince his body to move. He shifted back, intending to push himself up, but realized his hand was stuck fast. Eridan was holding it so tightly it was going numb, and the aquatic troll was still shuddering in a ball on the floor.

Served him right, the flaming asshole.

Carefully, Sollux tried to pry at his fingers to extract his hand, but Eridan grabbed his shoulder instead and dragged him into a tight hug with his face buried in Sollux' neck. Sollux yelped and struggled, but he could feel tears leaking down his neck, and that made him pause.

"Wwhat...wwhat did you do you fuckin'..." Eridan's voice seemed to fail him and he clung a little tighter. "Oh gog, Fef...she's dead. Is she really dead?"

"Not yet," Sollux said hollowly. Grudgingly he put his arms around the other troll. It had to have hit Eridan a million times harder to see that than it had Sollux, and he himself was still shaking.

"Wwe havve to do somethin'," Eridan said. "I mean, wwe can do somethin' to stop it, right?"

"Maybe. Probably not."

"Wwhat do ya mean, 'probably not'?" Eridan's voice rose. He was starting to tense, the anger dispelling the despair. Sollux knew well how that worked, and he mentally prepared himself for a fight, while he continued to hold the other troll and stroke his hand lightly down his back.

"I mean ekthactly what I thaid," he said. "It'th probably gonna happen no matter what we do. Like my visionth alwayth do."

"That's upright fuckin' bullshit!" Eridan snapped, but he sagged a little, worrying at his lower lip with his teeth.

"Welcome to my life," Sollux replied, sighing.

There was a short pause, then abruptly Eridan sneered at him, beginning to untangle himself. "You pissblood freak," he snarled. "I never wwanted any part of your life. Okay, you'vve made your fuckin' point. I get wwhat you deal with evvery fuckin' day, as if I didn't already knoww. Noww take off the collar. It's downright embarrassin' is wwhat it is, and there's no need for it."

Sollux let him go and sat up. "I'm not taking it off, ed. Not ever."

Eridan glared at him, then stood up and strode to his clothing, beginning to dress. Sollux watched him warily. "Wwhy not?"

"Becauthe, it'th the only way I can get thome fucking equality around here," Sollux said simply. He got to his feet slowly and moved closer to Eridan, expecting an attack at any moment. When the aquatic troll was angry, he could be volatile. And he definitely _was_ angry at the moment.

"Wwhat the fuck makes you think this has anyfin to do wwith equality?" Eridan replied, wrapping his scarf around his neck with jerky movements of his arms, hiding the collar. "You're not equal to me. You're a lowwblood."

"Yeah, I got that," Sollux rolled his eyes. "You thaid you wanted a kithmethith, jerk. But tho far all I've been ith pretty much jutht a thex thlave, and I'm thick of it."

He reached for his pants and Eridan backhanded him viciously.

Pain exploded in Sollux' face and he dropped like a stone, crying out and tasting blood. One of Eridan's rings had ripped into his lower lip, again. A crushing weight settled on his lower back as Eridan straddled him, and he grunted, neck wrenched painfully as Eridan grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head back.

"You take this off," the royal troll growled, his voice low and rumbling. "You take it off, Sol, right noww. I'm not fucking playin' wwith you anymore."

"I'm not playing...either," Sollux wheezed, fists clenching uselessly against the floor. He, bucked and struggled, but he couldn't get any leverage to throw the heavier troll off of him. "I'm not... fucking... taking it off, ed! Tho get over it!"

A loud explosion shook the room. Sollux' eyes flew open and he looked uncomprehendingly at the far wall, where a plate had buckled under the impact of some kind of powerful energy blast. The wall there was smoking and some of the metal had melted.

Something hard and blunt-tipped pressed into the back of Sollux' neck, and he went cold. It had to be Eridan's wand, that stupid thing that Sollux had expected was some kind of toy. It could do that?

"I could kill you so fuckin' easily," Eridan said, his tone regal and almost silky.

Gog, why was he so scary when he was pissed off enough not to be yelling? Sollux' heart was beating so fast his chest hurt, and his breaths came in rapid gasps.

"You won't kill me," Sollux whispered, squeezing his eyes shut tightly again. _Don't kill me, please..._

"Wwhat makes you think I wwouldn't do a thing like that just because I wwanted to?" Eridan sneered. "You're such a pathetic, useless, nothin' compared to me. Your life is just a wwaste of space except wwhere it servves me, you get that? You oughta be grateful for wwhat little consideration I'vve givven you instead of--"

Eridan's computer started to beep frantically.

"Uh," Sollux said. His own husktop was pestering him, too, but he hadn't noticed until this moment because it was captchalogued and he'd been a little distracted. "I think thomeone'th trolling you, ed."

carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling twinArmageddons [TA]

CG: LISTEN, SOMETHING'S COME UP AND I NEED YOU TO GET YOUR PATHETIC DUAL-OBSESSED SHAME GLOBES BACK UP HERE RIGHT THE FUCK NOW.  
CG: CAPTOR, SERIOUSLY, ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW.  
CG: LOOK, I DON'T CARE IF YOU'VE GOT ERIDAN BURIED TO HIS NECK IN YOUR NOOK, I NEED YOU TO ANSWER ME!  
CG: SERIOUSLY FUCKED UP SHIT IS GOING DOWN  
CG: AND YOU REALLY NEED TO GET BACK HERE  
CG: BEFORE SOMETHING REALLY TERRIBLE HAPPENS.  
CG: IF IT HASN'T ALREADY  
CG: OH MY GOD  
CG: SOLLUX?  


carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling caligulasAquarium [CA]

CG: AMPORA YOU ANSWER ME RIGHT THE FUCK NOW OR SO HELP ME I WILL STRANGLE YOU WITH THAT FUCKING SCARF OF YOURS AND THEN PULL OUT YOUR PROTRUDING TONGUE AND BEAT YOU TO DEATH WITH IT CLENCHED IN MY RAGE-FILLED FIST!   
CA: wwow, kar, im not sure wwhat to do wwith all of this black flirting right up in here  
CA: you knoww im kinda busy right noww wwhat wwith havvin a kismesis already to entertain  
CA: actually im really pretty busy at the moment  
CA: if you knoww wwhat i mean   
CG: OH MY GOD  
CG: YOU DID NOT JUST SAY THAT WHILE I'M SITTING HERE FREAKING THE FUCK OUT.  
CG: NO WAIT  
CG: I JUST REALIZED I REALLY DON'T CARE  
CG: AT ALL.  
CG: GET HIS BULGE OUT OF YOUR NOOK FOR A SECOND WHILE YOU LISTEN.   
CA: haha thats pretty funny  
CA: as if i wwould evver condescend to be in a position like that wwith someone like him  
CA: for your information hes layin quite contentedly at my feet at the moment  
CA: like a dog or somethin   
CG: SHUT THE FUCK UP RIGHT NOW BEFORE I GOUGE MY EYES OUT AND SIMULTANEOUSLY EJECT THE CONTENTS OF MY STOMACH ALL OVER THIS KEYBOARD.  
CG: I HAVE SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT  
CG: AND IT HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH BULGE-BUMPING.  
CG: GOT IT?   
CA: okay okay i get it kar  
CA: wwhat can i do for you?   
CG: YOU CAN STOP PLAYING AROUND  
CG: AND GET BOTH OF YOUR ASSES BACK UP HERE  
CG: AND HELP SAVE US ALL FROM GAMZEE.   
CA: wwhat

Eridan's shoe grinding into the back of Sollux' neck was extremely uncomfortable. The smaller troll tried to shift, to relieve some of the pressure, but Eridan just pushed harder, forcing his face into the metal floor. He could hear Eridan typing away, faster and then slower, and wondered what in fuck was going on.

Finally Eridan pushed away from the desk and the pressure was off. Sollux looked up warily, wiping drying blood from his chin, and not quite daring to move yet.

Eridan was pale as sheetrock. The aquatic troll stood up and began to pace, eyes flicking to Sollux every few seconds, but he said nothing for a couple of minutes. Then finally he grabbed Sollux' clothes and tossed them at him.

"Get dressed, wworm. Wwe're gettin out a here for a bit."

"What happened?" Sollux asked uncertainly, pulling his clothes towards him and starting to pull them on.

"Kar says that Gam's gone nuts or somethin'. He's killed Equ and Nep and maybe Ter, too. And we'vve gotta go stop him, before he kills anyone else." Eridan's voice was muffled, since he had a mouthful of scarf.

Sollux stopped with one leg in his pants, feeling his own cheeks going pale. "What? Oh fuck. _Fuck._ "

It was his vision, with a few changes. He had seen Equius, at least, and Nepeta. He had no doubt in his mind right now that Tavros was next. Or maybe Feferi.

Eridan continued to chew on his scarf, eyeing Sollux over the fabric with more nervousness than Sollux would have expected to see. Suddenly he pulled the wool out of his mouth again. "Don't think you're goin' to get awway wwith this collar thing. I'll alloww it for noww, since wwe'vve got important shit to do, and I see I'vve got you all freaked out or somethin', but you're not getting your other collar taken off, either."

Sollux stiffened, glaring, and finished pulling on his pants. "You thaid you wouldn't leave me defentheleth! Jegus, ed, gz is out there killing everyone, and we've got to thtop him. You can't play thethe gameth right now!"

Eridan snorted. His lips twisted in a superior smirk and he stuck a finger under Sollux' nose. "Are you ready to take off the collar, noww, then? Changed your mind right quick, hmm?"

Sollux smacked the hand away and pulled his shirt on over his head. His heart was beating very fast, but he was resolute. _Shit, shit, shit, this is so stupid!_ "No, ed."

"Then you'll jutht have to run awway if you see Gam, huh? Might wwant to reconsider, if you vvalue your wworthless life."

"Do _you_ value my worthleth life?" Sollux shot back, his lips peeling back in an angry snarl.

Eridan just shrugged and turned away, striding towards the teleportalizer pad. "Wwe had a good arrangement goin, Sol. You're the one wwho fucked it all up."

Sollux hurried after him, hopping on one foot as he pulled on his shoes. He didn't want to get left behind again, especially since he would probably be the only one incapacitated, if Eridan's collar was outside of the range of his. He hoped Eridan wouldn't figure that out.

"It wath alwayth fucked up," Sollux growled.

"Wwell if you ain't gonna be reasonable, I guess you'll just need to stick close to me," Eridan said. "So I can protect you." Eridan grabbed Sollux by the back of his shirt and yanked him onto the pad with him, and with a wrenching sensation in the pit of his stomach, they were gone.

====>

Gamzee was waiting for them when they all, Karkat, Feferi, Eridan and Sollux, emerged from the control room.

They had had a plan. Everyone had been ready with their weapons - except for Sollux, but no one expected him to actually need one. The little pissblood had been especially quiet, talking to Karkat and Feferi if spoken to, but Eridan had seen the worried looks they gave him. He couldn't really blame them for being concerned, considering he had some pretty obvious cuts on his face from Eridan's rings.

But it irritated him. Why were they always so worried about them, and never thought to wonder if Eridan were okay?

He wasn't really okay. This whole thing was spiralling out of control, and all the good feelings he'd had before were gone. Now he had this metal choker around his neck, which thankfully was hidden by his scarf or he wouldn't know what to do to deal with the humiliation.

And Sollux was mad at him, like _really_ pissed off. He'd thought that it was all going perfectly, but suddenly it wasn't working out the way he'd wanted at all, and he couldn't understand where it had gone wrong.

But first they had to deal with Gamzee's murder spree, which was the most fucked up sentence he'd never thought he'd ever have to think.

They didn't know exactly where Kanaya was. She had left hours ago, saying she was going down to the central core to do something with the matriorb, and the first part of the plan had been to go find her, see if she were still alive. Messages had been sent out to Vriska, too, but none of them were too worried about her. She was god tier, after all, but if anyone heard from her, they were going to collect her, too.

Then they were going to go after Gamzee directly, find him, and somehow stop him.

It hadn't been a very specific plan, the way Karkat had outlined it, but Eridan was reasonably comfortable with it.

That was until they rematerialized on the transportalizer outside the control hub and the plan had gone straight to hell.

Gamzee had been standing right there. Everyone was so shocked, not just by his presence there when none of them had expected to see him, but by his transformed appearance, with the blood running down his face and his clothes and clubs spattered with a motherfucking rainbow of colours, that no one moved at first.

The Subjugglator had grinned, scanned them all with his eyes, and then looked straight at Sollux.

Eridan had barely lifted a hand, wand clenched tightly in it, when he felt a blast of wind. A blur passed him, grabbed Sollux, and slammed him hard against the nearest wall. Yellow blood spattered, and Karkat was yelling, and Feferi was screaming, and Eridan didn't even consciously decide to bring the wand around, but there was a flash of white light and suddenly Gamzee was running down the hall and Sollux crumpled to the floor face down like a limp puppet.

With an animalistic snarl, Karkat raced off after the Subjugglator, Feferi right on his heels with her trident raised. And the next thing Eridan knew, he was alone with his kismesis in a blood-spattered hallway, and this close to bursting into tears.

"Sol!" He dove towards him, then skidded on a patch of yellow blood. He went to one knee and turned him over, but there was so much blood. Blood on his face, blood on his shirt. Blood everywhere.

"Oh god, oh god, Sol," Eridan whimpered, gathering the limp body into his arms.

Sollux looked so fragile, like he had when Eridan had turned off his collar, but this time he wasn't twisting or screaming or crying. He just lay there, head lolling.

Eridan's vision blurred and he pulled Sollux' head against his chest, sniffling. It wasn't fair. He'd just started to finally get a kismesis again, someone he could really spend time with, who couldn't dump him or abandon him. Someone who was smart and sarcastic and strong, and so fucking hot. Someone Eridan could really respect, and look up to, and have a proper rivalry with.

Purple tears ran down his cheeks, but he looked around warily, remembering belatedly where he was. He had to get somewhere safe. Fuck finding Gamzee. Fuck everyone. He was going to hide and mourn and maybe never come out again. None of them would care if Eridan lived or died, anyway.

He got to his feet, and hitched the body up in his arms a little more, and a sigh escaped Sollux' lips.

Eridan stiffened and looked down. Had that been a death rattle or something? But no, Sollux' chest was rising and falling, if a little shallowly, and Eridan's hopes began to soar again.

"Oh gog, don't die," he whispered urgently as he ran down the hall as quickly as he could. "Just don't fuckin' die on me, Sol. I swwear I'll make all this up to you."

He raced to his transportalizer and hopped onto it, vanishing back to his own room where Gamzee couldn't get to them again.

Once safely in his secret room, Eridan carried Sollux to the sleeping rectangle and laid him down, then stood back and chewed on his scarf for a bit, frightened to touch him. What if he had already hurt him too badly by carrying him around like this? A head injury was no joke.

 _What's wrong with me?_ he berated himself, leaning over Sollux and gently pulling his shirt up and off. _I'm acting like a wriggler._

He darted into the next room, alchemized a pile of towels, and dumped half of them in the pool. Soon he had a pile of wet towels and a pile of dry, and set about mopping up the blood with the wet ones.

He knew nothing about healing, but he could bandage wounds, if he found any that needed bandaging. And he could wash blood from skin and make Sollux comfortable. And he could hope.

He was the Prince of Hope, after all. Maybe this was what it really meant - being useless and unable to do much of anything, except sit around and feel like shit.

It sucked.

====>

When Sollux woke up, he was naked again. And his head hurt worse than ever.

He shifted, and the arm around his waist tightened, holding him in place. For a second, he almost looked up to see if his wrists were chained to the headboard, as if everything that had happened since he got up earlier to use the alchemiter was only a dream. But his hands were free, and he used them to push himself up.

Or he tried to. Eridan popped up like a cork and planted a hand in the centre of his chest, pushing him back down.

"Don't sit up!" Eridan snapped, his eyes wide behind his glasses.

Oh what kind of retarded game was this now? Sollux groaned and closed his eyes, rubbing his forehead. His head throbbed and he couldn't remember how he'd gotten back to this room. He distinctly remembered leaving, and deciding to go after Gamzee, but he didn't remember anything after getting on the transportalizer to go look for Kanaya and Vriska.

"Fuck, ed, I'm not in the mood right now. Go polish your bulge thomewhere elthe for onthe. I have a headache." And he'd just had a really weird visit from his girlfriend, in a bubble, which had ended a bit too soon for his liking. All in all, he was grumpy.

"Don't be more of an idiot than you have to be, Sol," Eridan said archly. "You just wwoke up after a nasty run-in wwith a wwall. I'm pretty fuckin' sure your useless, mutated head lost that battle."

"A wall?" Sollux brushed Eridan's hand off, but instead of sitting up, he rolled over and buried his face in a pillow with a groan. "What are you talking about?"

"You don't remember?" Eridan asked. "Gam attacked you." There was a weird sort of pause. "He wwas so fast. I'vve nevver seen anyfin like that, and he grabbed you before I could use my wwand, and then you wwere unconscious."

Sollux shifted and rolled onto his back again, even though the back of his head hurt so much and it hurt more to rest on it. He needed to see Eridan's face, though, and he looked up through narrowed eyes that watered a little from the pain.

The aquatic troll wasn't looking at him. Sollux had an excellent view of his profile as Eridan stared at the far wall, his eyes looking as though he was gazing at something even further away than that. Something he didn't like.

Why did he have to be so painfully attractive? It pissed Sollux off.

"Tho what you're thaying ith, I couldn't defend mythelf, and you couldn't defend me, tho I nearly got mythelf culled," he said flatly.

Eridan stiffened visibly and his head jerked around to look at him, shock and dismay and - yes - guilt written all over his face.

Good.

"It wwasn't my fuckin' fault!" Eridan protested, and that scarf snuck into his mouth again for a moment before he pulled it out again and finished, sulkily, "Kar and Fef didn't stop him, either."

Sollux pushed himself up on his elbows, then decided that Eridan had been right and let himself drop down onto his back again, grimacing in pain. His vision was doubling, which might have been cool, except it totally wasn't.

"Kk and ff didn't _know_ they needed to thtop him," he growled, in a slow and deliberate tone. "They didn't know that I _needed_ protection, and you did. Tho thith ith completely, one hundred perthent your fault. Don't try to wriggle out of it!"

To Sollux' surprise, Eridan shut his mouth and just looked at him for a few seconds before sagging slightly. "Wwell, wwhatevver. You didn't die, so there's no point in gettin' all high and mighty ovver it. You'll be fine, noww."

Anger flared hot enough to blot out the pounding in his head.

"I'll be fine? I didn't die, dethpite your thelfishneth, tho everything'th _fine_? Yeah, I'll definitely be fine. I'll be fine, becauthe I'm done with thith. Completely. Fucking. Done. You underthtand me?" he spat the words, pushing himself up despite the way his head threatened to split open, and grabbing Eridan by the scarf. He dragged Eridan in until their noses were almost touching. "Take off the collarth."

Eridan recoiled, trying to extract Sollux' fingers from his scarf without success. "I'll take it off wwhen I decide--"

" _No!_ " Sollux shouted the word loudly enough that it made Eridan's mouth shut tight as a clam with a pearl. "I thaid, take it off. No more gameth. No more kithmethithitude. I'm done with you, ed. I'm done with your thelfish bullshit, your thuperiority, your crap. I'd rather have visionth."

"You...you can't," Eridan protested weakly. "You can't get it off unless I take it off."

"And you're taking it off, right now," Sollux said implacably. "Or I will not thtop trying to kill you until you change your mind."

"If you kill me, uh..." Eridan's words fell flat as his eyes widened. Of course his threat made no sense if Sollux was willing to accept his visions back anyway.

Sollux stared at Eridan for a full thirty seconds, and finally the aquatic troll looked away. He dropped his gaze and his mouth pulled down at the corners. "Wwell, if that's wwhat you really wwant," he said. "I mean, I can't force you to take the upright awwesome chance I'm offerin' you."

"You dithgutht me," Sollux said with deliberation, and Eridan visibly flinched.

 _Wow, what was that?_ Sollux wondered. _Does that royal asshole actually care what I think? Impossible._

"You don't gotta be like that," Eridan said, still staring at his hands.

Sollux just glared at him. He was definitely not in the mood to feel sorry for the guy who had nearly gotten him killed, who had tortured and pretty much raped him, and humiliated him at every turn, just to get some willing fucktoy who couldn't actually say no.

After a few moments, Eridan snuck a look at him, then sighed and turned towards him, reaching for the collar. Then he paused. "You've gotta take mine off, too," he said warily, and Sollux shrugged.

"I mean it," Sollux said. "I'm done with you. I'm not a fucked up thadithtic piethe of shit like you. I won't make you thuffer. I jutht want it over."

Eridan nodded resignedly and settled his fingers on the collar. Sollux held still, almost shocked that Eridan really was taking it off, and waited while he removed the second collar, leaving the other one where it was. He took a deep breath, feeling instantly better, just knowing that he had his telekinesis back.

"Wwe could just, yanno, leavve it as it is noww," Eridan said awkwardly. "You knoww, wwith just the one, so you don't have vvisions, and me wwearin' this collar so I can't really hurt you wwith it. There's no reason wwhy--"

"I _thaid_ I wath done," Sollux said, even more forcefully than he quite meant to. He would be lying if he said he wasn't tempted. Like this, he and Eridan really were on an even playing field.

 _"Just _think_ about it," Eridan protested. "You don't wwant ta do anythin' hasty!"_

"You jutht want to keep me around for thomething to get your bulge off," Sollux growled. "Thtop thnivelling, for fuckth thake, ed. It'th pathetic."

Eridan shut his mouth and purpled as he blushed. "I'm not snivvelling," he growled. "I wwas just tryin' to keep you from makin' a fucking terrible mistake, rejectin' something perfectly good that I offered you and you said was real important to you. Don't think I'll take you back, evven if you come crawlin' like the fuckin' wworm you are!"

"Can it," Sollux replied, way too sick and tired to listen to him go on. He reached out and grabbed the scarf, digging under it until he found the collar around Eridan's neck. He rubbed it with his fingers until the catch registered his genetic signature, and it snapped open. Eridan stiffened at first, but relaxed as the metal parted, freeing him.

Eridan gazed at him with a strange, sort of desperate look in his eyes, but Sollux cast the collar he'd made aside, and then stubbornly pulled the collar off his own neck.

The voices exploded into his mind, and he closed his eyes, dropping back down onto the pillow and letting them wash over him. He could hear Vriska gasping, and Gamzee. Distantly, and getting fainter, he heard the roar of a chainsaw and Eridan's cry as he was ripped apart, but that was almost inaudible now. A timeline that wasn't to be.

Sollux rolled onto his stomach and let the voices chase him down into unconsciousness. He felt Eridan get up from the bed and heard him walk away, but a while later, he thought he felt a beringed hand in his hair.

That had to be a hallucination. Eridan had no reason to pretend to be nice to him, now.


End file.
